Good City Form

Kevin Lynch

Historically...
The oldest known cities were temple cities Laid out along processional avenues and impressive sights

Built to impress pilgrims and get their tribute

(Disney World, Las Vegas)

Temple Cities

Temple Cities
D efined a place for humans in the Cosmos, seperating us from chaos The rulers are the upholders of order

Leads to 'holy city plan'

Feng shui

Machine Cities
New settlements in foreign lands laid out on a grid Allows planning, expansion, change and impermanence Combined with fortification, allows easier defense Control by segregation (Roskilde Festival)

Machine Cities
The city is seen as a collection of parts Scalable and flexible Repeating patterns Sprawl

Machine Cities

Values
Vitality Fit Sense Access Control

Vitality
Support of biological human needs And human capabilities
o o o o

Should have access to food & water etc. Remove waste Prevent disease Defend against attack

Expectations scale with our ability (eg. to predict disasters)

Fit
Human Factors Rhythms o Work hours o Sleep o Day/Night o Seasons Suitedness to purpose and ease of use Can be emergent and non-universal (McGyver)

Fit
Manipulability o the ability to influence environment Flexibility to suit future purposes (Grid layout suited for this)

Bad Fit

Good Fit

Sense

Sense
Legibility of a place Identity Sensory impression Cognitive impression

Sense
A good city cannot follow a strict model, since differentiation is a value in itself Identity and "historicalness" are hard to make The experience of a place should have flow Transparency: The processes and origins should be legible too

Access
Variety of destinations >< Travel time Externalities Control

Access

Access

Control
control of space is useful for creating feelings of dominance, status, power

vs.
excluded, submitted, weak

Control
Wastelands Hard-to-reach areas outside the city Low degree of control

High degree of subversiveness, freedom

Fit